Philly Future

August 12, 2005

War Blogs A01 on WaPo

The WaPo gives some love to the war blogs out there giving them front page exposure. First-hand accounts are coming from soldiers now, with no filter. As personal as letters to their family, as real as the hatred for their opposition, as harsh as caustic diatribes against the war and the administration.

Since the 1850s, when a London Times reporter was sent to chronicle the Crimean War, journalists have generally provided the most immediate first-hand depictions of major conflicts. But in Iraq, service members themselves are delivering real-time dispatches -- in their own words -- often to an audience of thousands through postings to their blogs.

Outlets like AP Wideworld can get stories out to hundreds and thousands of publications the next day and most of the time, on the websites. First-hand accounts of soldiers can come within hours of incredible events, for Sgt. Elizabeth Le Bel, within hours of a roadside bomb sent her Humvee hurtling. She filed from the Army hospital:

I started to scream bloody murder, and one of the other females on the convoy came over, grabbed my hand and started to calm me down. She held onto me, allowing me to place my leg on her shoulder as it was hanging free," Le Bel wrote. "I thought that my face had been blown off, so I made the remark that I wouldn't be pretty again LOL. Of course the medics all rushed with reassurance which was quite amusing as I know what I look like now and I don't even want to think about what I looked like then.

I haven't kept up with the MiliBlogs, but this seems like a good starting point. Read on.